


pass/fail

by snicklefritz



Category: Naruto
Genre: Chuunin Exams, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 12:39:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7533115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snicklefritz/pseuds/snicklefritz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lessons learned, or; Sakura tries to learn the Chidori.</p>
            </blockquote>





	pass/fail

**Author's Note:**

> I KNOW THIS ISN'T STAR WARS I'M SO SORRY
> 
> idk where this naruto thing came from but it's enveloped my life, everything is 2008 again. i've been replaying this old naruto ps2 game and in it sakura can learn a version of the chidori called "young lightning" and it lit a fire in my brain and then this happened.
> 
> takes place in that month everyone gets between the second and third stage of the chuunin exams.

Sakura's not stupid, Kakashi knows this, but- well, given her massive crush on Sasuke and lack of any distinguishing characteristics, he underestimated her intelligence. Severely, as it turns out. He's torn between pride and anger at his genin, who's standing in the middle of training ground four with trembling legs and lightning in the palm of her hand. 

He watches her carefully. She's copied his form, but the lightning is weak and flickering, small and unstable. She doesn't have enough chakra to keep it going for long- he can see her chest heaving in effort all the way across the clearing. Using the Chidori depends on speed and the Sharingan, neither of which Sakura has, but she swings her fist around in a perfectly formed punch and smashes the lightning into the nearest tree. The tree, one of the tall oaks Konoha is famous for, splits in two, splinters flying through the air and branches crashing down on the ground. Kakashi can smell burnt bark and the sharp tang of blood from a cut on Sakura's knuckles. Her legs finally give out and she collapses, panting into the grass. It's hard to tell from here, but he thinks she's smiling. 

It's not a true Chidori, but it's close, too close. As impressed as he is with what she's accomplished, the more immediate emotion he identifies is anger- there's a reason this technique only works with Sharingan, and if Sakura thinks she can compensate by using it for general destruction instead of the precise killing blow it was invented for- 

Well, he invented the damn thing, if anyone can take issue with how the jutsu is used, it's him. 

Kakashi flares his chakra to grab her attention, and Sakura startles upright, a kunai drawn. She doesn't look taken aback that he's discovered her, which surprises him. Instead, she juts her chin out, defiant. 

"Still spying on Sasuke?" he asks lightly, walking towards her, careful not to trod on the broken branches. She flushes, the color clashing with her hair, and gets up unsteadily. Sakura sways, but rights herself before Kakashi can help. 

"Only once!" she says defensively. "I just wanted to be sure..."

Sure of what? That the Curse Mark was contained? That he was still the same boy she was infatuated with? Kakashi wasn't sure either of those things were true anymore, and wondered if Sakura knew that. 

"I only saw it once, besides that time in Wave," she continues. "And I-" Her fists clench, and Kakashi can see the cuts on her knuckles opening wider. "I'm tired of being a liability to this team!"

Kakashi should have seen this coming. Any competent sensei would have. For the first time he _truly_ wonders what happened to Sakura in the Forest of Death, actually spends time thinking about the hard set of his student's jaw and the determination that's still bright and new in her eyes. 

It's too late to ask her. 

"That technique is dangerous even with the Sharingan," he says woodenly. Sakura's eyes narrow, and she may not have mastered the art of killing intent, but Kakashi feels a chill slide through his chest at her gaze. "If you want to use it, you'll have to modify it to your strengths."

"I don't have any strengths," Sakura says bitterly. Kakashi wants to argue with her but she beats him to it. "I'm not strong, I'm not fast, I'm not the smartest person on the battlefield, but I am _going_ to learn this jutsu and I am _going_ to protect my team and I am _not_ going to be dead weight anymore!"

Kakashi stays quiet, lets her breathe her feelings out. He doesn't know how to comfort her without lying. He doesn't want to encourage her down a path into self-destruction just because of her own perceptions of weakness and strength. 

He wishes Minato-sensei were here.

Kakashi takes a small scroll out of his pocket, performs a quick hand sign, and takes out the small box of medical supplies sealed inside. "Your hand will get infected," he says, sitting down on the fallen trunk of the tree. Sakura sits down next to him after a moment, and he wraps her hand as best he can.

"You're not going to teach me Chidori, are you?" Sakura already sounds resigned to it, the anger that flared so intensely before already contained again. 

Kakashi doesn't answer immediately. "Sakura, do you remember what the point of the bell test was?"

She looks up at him, sweat-stained face confused. "Sensei?"

"Humor me, please, Sakura."

"It- it was to teach us teamwork. That the three of us are one." 

"Correct," Kakashi says evenly. "And that none of you get left behind." Finishing with her bandages, he sets her hand down on the bark, and busies himself with putting his medical supplies back in order. "As your sensei and team leader, I failed that lesson."

He methodically rewinds the bandages, feeling her green eyes staring at him. "I neglected your training and focused on Sasuke and Naruto, and you suffered because of it. You don't have clan techniques or boundless chakra reserves or even a particular skill set, and instead of training you properly, I left you to your own devices." 

Kakashi hasn't looked at her yet, but he really really hopes the sniffling sound he heard was the wind. He can't take crying right now. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I won't leave you behind again."

Finished with his medical kit and officially out of ways to keep from looking at her, he glances down. Her green eyes are watery but not a single tear has spilled. She nods at him once, and Kakashi lets his one visible eye crinkle in the way most people interpret as a smile. 

"Well, in that case, since you've destroyed this part of the training ground, rest up and meet me here tomorrow morning at seven," he says jauntily, falling back into his reliable "laid-back Kakashi" form, the one that usually puts the kids at ease. He slips off the log, pulls out his book, and walks away reading, waving one hand goodbye at her. 

And alright, so maybe the next morning he doesn't show up until ten, but he promised to train her, not be punctual about it.


End file.
